Rating: 
Summary: RUSH IN RIO IS AWESOME!!!!!!!
Review: I WONDER IF THE PEOPLE GIVING THIS DVD 1 OR 2 STARS HAVE EVER SEEN RUSH LIVE. I HAVE MANY TIMES AND FEEL THAT THIS DVD CAPTURES RUSH'S LIVE PERFORMANCE PERFECTLY. I AM GLAD THEY DID NOT SCREW WITH IT IN THE STUDIO. I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS DVD FOR A LONG TIME AND HAVE NOT BEEN DISAPPOINTED. I DONT THINK MANY TRUE RUSH FANS WILL DISAGREE. P.S. ALEX RULES!!
Rating:
Summary: Almost as good as being there.
Review: This DVD is incredible. The audio and video quality are amazing and they never seem to run out of camera angles. Kudos to Amazon.com for actually getting it shipped to me on the day it was released (Oct 21). That was a nice surprise. You can not be a Rush fan and not own this DVD.
Rating: 
Summary: A great show!
Review: There were more than a few factors that might have kept this product from ever reaching the shelf.The tragedies in Neil Peart's personal life, which put the future of Rush in doubt. The very uncertainty of traveling around the world to play in a country for the first time in uncharacteristically large, open venues. The tropical rains that swamped sensitive electronic gear during the previous gig in Sao Paulo. Not to mention the ensuing technical and logistal nightmares that delayed stage set-up, forced them to scrap the all-important sound check and kept road and film crews scrambling until the opening bars of "Tom Sawyer." Nevertheless, what results is a practically flawless, crisp three-hour performance (and "clinic") that weaves the band's 30-year tradition of instrumental prodigy and precision with the emotion of the final stop on their first tour in five years and the unbridled exuberance of the 40,000-strong Maracana Stadium audience. I've followed this band for more than 20 years, but seeing it through the eyes and emotions of the youthful and passionate Rio audience welcoming the band to their country for the first time was a cool experience. Singing along on every song -- though most of them presumably can speak only a lick of Englsh -- humming and moving in perfect unison to the pulsating intrumental section of "Free Will," scatting along to "YYZ" note for note, adding their own distinct vocal texture to the coda of "Natural Science," and shouting "HEY!" on cue like the most grizzled Rush concert veterans during "2112," these fans add a nice dimension of excitement to the DVD unseen in the band's previous concert films. Some audiophiles and armchair music engineers will turn their noses up at the sound quality -- and they have a point. Given today's production standards and the band's penchant for perfectionism and attention to detail, the sound on "Rio" leaves a bit to be desired and undercuts the band's performance. The shortcomings are even more apparent on the counterpart "Rio" CD. But ignoring some of the audio nitpicks, Rush fans will find this DVD to be a real treat and be thankful that the band and crew overcame as much as they did to produce such a memorable performance.
Rating: 
Summary: Doesn't do justice
Review: There's no arguing that this show is a five star performance, nor that Rush is a five star band. This is merely about the DVD, the presentation of which I think doesn't do the band all the justice it deserves. First the sound; The audience is amazing, all 60,000 of them. I've never seen such a pumped crowd. And you can hear all of them, all the time. Too often it's difficult to discern Geddy's voice or much of Alex's guitar work through that - a lot of the mid's are completely washed out. No problem with the drums or bass!
I, also, believe the video editing bounces around way too much and becomes tiresome to watch. The concert I saw was pure, smooth, perfection. Because of the sound and video this isn't that.
It is still killer concert footage, an exceptional set, Rush at their finest. What'r ya gonna do?
Rating: 
Summary: HORRIBLE AUDIO
Review: I PICKED UP THE DVD ON RELEASE DAY WITH HIGH EXPECTATIONS, ONLY TO BE COMPLETLY DISSAPOINTED. I HAVE NEVER HEARD A SOUND MIX AS POOR AS THIS PERFORMANCE.ONE WOULD THINK THAT THE GUYS IN THE BAND WHO ARE KNOW PERFECTIONISTS, WOULD HAVE MADE SURE THE AUDIO WAS ACCEPTABLE BEFORE IT'S RELEASE. SAVE YOUR MONEY!
Rating:
Summary: Video & Audio is great- N. American fans are lame...
Review: The people giving it 2-3 stars here on Amazon should get their ears AND eys checked! Go listen to your Dead Zeppelin & Donna Henley & i'll keep enjoying RIR for years. This is a REAL band being recorded playing a stadium- no funny stuff or magic studio "fixing" here. A wonderful performance, & a crowd finally worthy such of a Rush show. i can only guess these "audiophiles" who are down on the audio quality are the same lameoids who stand there in the 5th row w/ their arms crossed acting "cool". Too "cool" to sing along or jump up & down during YYZ? Or too OLD? I wonder. You want Terry Brown back- take him. No other "real" band will touch the guy. I think the crowd mix is terrific & the overall mix is wonderfully raw- like ATWAS or the GUP video, & like Rush ARE live! I don't know what any of you have been smoking, but Rush are & ALWAYS have been a LOUD ROCK BAND, not the symphony orchestra! (I've seen them 17 times since '84)And someone mentioned thinking the 13-year-old "A Show of Hands" better? LOL! Take your VCR, ASOH tape, & crawl back into your cave. These are the same so-called Rush fans who think Vapour Trails has "bad" production. *sigh* Rush finished their overproduced days back in 1987 w/ the Alex Goes On Vacation "Hold Your Fire" LP & the sterile and uninspired & downright pathetic "A Show of Hands" video & CD. Move on, people!
Many of you make us N.Americans sound like a bunch of spoiled ancient Rush brats- & it's embarrasing. Shame on you. Next tour, i'll be in Brazil, where the REAL Rush fans are.
-Peetey, still jumping, fist pounding, air-drumming & singing along at age 30-something & PROUD of it.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible performance, Excellent production!
Review: This is the DVD RUSH fans have been waiting for! The complete show from Rio in front of 43,000 rabid fans who drive the band to new highs throughout the show. Alex Lifeson is ON FIRE this show! Peart's drum solo, "O Batarista" will leave you in absolute awe and Geddy Lee has never sounded better vocally nor played his bass more aggressively. This is by far the best example of the premiere band in rock doing what they do best.
Rating:
Summary: Try using an old fashioned, non-surround receiver
Review: I've been a Rush fan(atic) since I was 14 years old and saw the boys on the Moving Pictures tour. I've seen them live countless times and always enjoyed it. I was looking so forward to this DVD. It was recorded on my birthday, so that made it extra special to me. When I heard the preview on Westwood One's Sunday night show, I thought it sounded eerily like Exit...Stage Left. When I played it yesterday, my fears were confirmed. A lot of the mixing criticims I have read on here are well-founded. However, luckily, I have a DVD player in my bedroom which is hooked up to my NON-surround-sound receiver, with an equalizer. I have that hooked up to some Bose 501 speakers. All I can say is, awesome. Kills a lot of the crowd noise, and you are not getting all of the bass from a subwoofer. Played on a non-surround sound receiver, this DVD is just awesome. The sound is much improved. I was floored with the cinematography. I felt like I was right on stage with them. The documentary is also a keeper. Alex has always been my favorite and he just steals the show on the documentary.
Rating:
Summary: Warm and Fuzzy. These guys are fun again!
Review: I didn't see the DVD yet but I saw the theatrical release last night in Cleveland. It's their best show ever and mostly because they broke out of their typically rigid structure and cut loose during a large number of their songs. The acoustic piece was a nice touch after Neil's exhausting drum solo. Alex's guitar solos remain orgasmic. Geddy was the most loose I've ever seen him. Why 4 stars out of 5 then? Overzealous editing. The camera angles changed way too fast and too often. you might even say it was "jerky". This was distracting and took away from a very impressive showing.
Rating:
Summary: Poor Audio Quality? Not here!
Review: Beware. A number of the reviews written about this and companion CD product complain of poor audio quality, but if you read the reviews, they are actually complaining about the Rush in Rio theatrical release. That may well have had poor sound quality, I don't know, I didn't see it. I do have this DVD, and I would not describe the sound as poor, not close. I think the sound is much better than their last live album, "Different Stages". My only gripe with this DVD is I would've liked to see more of what was going on on the screen behind the stage, maybe as a 2nd angle. In concert, many Rush songs are accompanied by a video clip, sometimes humorous, sometimes dazzling, sometimes just clips from the song's video. It's a small gripe, because the main point of this is watching the band and the music.
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